Still purging those who aren't 'loyal Bushies'
By Steve Benen Friday May 02, 2008 1:00pmThe U.S. Attorney Purge scandal may be over, but the Bush administration hasn’t changed its habit of ridding itself of those guilty of independent thinking.
The battle over dioxin contamination in this economically stressed region [of Michigan] had been raging for years when a top Bush administration official turned up the pressure on Dow Chemical to clean it up.
On Thursday, following months of internal bickering over Mary Gade’s interactions with Dow, the administration forced her to quit as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Midwest office, based in Chicago.
We’ve learned quite a bit in recent days about the White House interfering with EPA regulations on dioxin contamination, but it’s especially bold, even for the Bush gang, to fire the one career official who was looking out for the public’s interests.
For the past year, Gade has been locked in a heated dispute with Dow about long-delayed plans to clean up dioxin-saturated soil and sediment that extends 50 miles beyond its Midland, Mich., plant into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. […]
Though regional EPA administrators typically have wide latitude to enforce environmental laws, Gade drew fire from officials in Washington last month after she sent contractors to test soil in a Saginaw neighborhood where Dow had found high dioxin levels.
Michigan Environmental Council President Lana Pollack called Gade a “woman of unquestioned credentials and integrity who was doing her job enforcing our environmental laws.”
In this administration, that’s not a compliment.
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Seven years ago, I would abhor this thought, but after years of ignorant citizenry looking the other way, I must say this: If only a few loyal Bush supporters suffered the consequence of this action, THEN learned of how their golden boy is responsible for their agony, it would put a smile on my face.
Frist, btw
Gade was also head of the Illinois EPA and won high marks for her work there. However, there may be more to this than meets the eye. If you look at the Chicago Tribune Topix Blog on this story, their are postings from (supposedly) Midwest EPA field office staff who claim Gade was autocratic, wasteful (e.g. sealed her office w/ bulletproof glass), demeaning to her staff, and that she basically created a hostile and unprofesssional work environment. Again, these are blog comments, so they should be taken with a grain of salt, but it would be nice to know the full story. Unfortunately, the Trib isn't generally know for digging deeply into issues.
This is such crap. This late into the nightmare that is the Bush Administration, these kinds of friggin tactics. Dow is a top five polluter world wide.
The Bushies have been doing this across the board. Read a story somewhere, forget where, about how Bushie ideologues were installed in the dept. that handles roads and highways. They've been privatizing public roads and it's been creating a mess.
Can you please start including Youtube links, or something? Whoever it is that uploads these videos has....well lately they've sucked, at least on the .mov side.
This is news?
The Bu(ll)sh(it) administration modus operandi has been Quid Pro Quo for 7 years now.
Unfortunately for Gade, there will likely be no revolving door into industry, not that her integrity would allow such a move.
Bushiness as Usual
"Still purging those who aren’t ‘loyal Bushies’"
So that's why I've seen on the highways huge tanker trucks from Ex-Lax.
Scandal Manager @ 7:
She should run for Congress. She has the perfect resume.
1. Fired by Bush for doing her job.
So???
(Hey, if it works for Dick...)
Starting to sound like a socialist dictatorship i.e soviet russia and communist china purge all those that were in the old regime and replace them with loyal ditto heads whoever comes to gets into office next time should see who passionately followed the chimpy party line and give them the same treatment. I for one have had enough of this and to have people in place that followed this waste of space isn't acceptable
It's about protecting those devaluating dollars. You must become one with the corruption, love the corruption, honor the corruption, live for the corruption. Then and only then can you achieve the greatest honor of being called ass hole. Clearly she was not up to the task.
"Laws?!? We don't need no stinkin' laws!" ... G.W. Bush
Bud @ 11:
That is exactly what I'll say when Cheney dies, So??
ysbaddaden @ 9:
For those extra tough critic purges..,.
VegasRage @ 13:
I wonder if our country is some giant pyramid scheme.
I will say the same thing I say here, and to his face, "FUCK YOU"
And I will add "You SCUMBAG MUDDERFUGGING TRAITOR"
Dick Chraitor
VegasRage @ 15:
No, on that great day I doubt many will say 'so?' - They will shout HURAY!
Impeach before it is too late.
Impeach before he shoots any more of his friends!!
ken martin @ 12:
You know a staunch anti communist like yourself always has a place in the Neo-Con movement - It is the new international Fascist movement and you sound like a potential candidate!
I understand they are making great strides for FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY around the world - In Afganistan, Iraq, Sudan and other places.
Dusty @ 4:
It's the ECONOMY stupid!
Not the enviorment.
Pollution is only one of the many things they produce at a handsome profit.
Got's to give it up for the doe ray me...
they have poisoned the rivers the lakes the water tables for yrs , as a kid i used to go fishing in the ohio river , for one thing it was a food source for our familys , all sorts of things flowed by us , rubbers ,turds , hog guts from the meat packing plants , the enviornmental agencys stopped all that , sewers stopped emptying into the ohio , packing plants stopped emptying hog guts into the river , the waters clean looking now, the only thing is now you cant eat the fish anymore , they poisoned it with dixon , phenol from general electric , and every asshole company who could get by with dumping chemicals into the ohio river all the way from its source and down rivers to new orleans, at ge progress is our most importent product! suck it up folks one day youll be thirsty and thier wont be any water left fit to drink, enjoy the freedoms you dont have !
Gee, too bad the MSM can't find anything worth reporting on, la de da de da....no story here, move along. What happened on American Idol?!
The Republican code: Any independent thinking is not allowed within the party. Anyone who has an independent thought will be dealt with swiftly and harshly. Do what the leader says and you will be rewarded. Remember, do not step out of line. Hail Bush!!
I wonder if this heavy political influence was felt in other federal departments and agencies, say ones like FEMA, NIST, the FAA, or on critical commissions?
Nah, this administration wouldn't interfere with science or investigations.
Arguably the most immediately important instance is the firing of Admiral Fallon. Fallon was overall military boss in charge of both Afghanistan and Iraq. After General Betrayus was promoted to head the Iraq stuff and thus report directly to Fallon, and they met for the first time, Fallon's response was that Betrayus is "an ass-kissing little chickenshit," and, "I hate people like that." Fallon, who spoke truth to his superordinates (definitely not his superiors!) was fired, and the ass-kissing little chickenshit was promoted. Fallon had to know he would be punished for telling the truth, but he did so anyway. He, like Shinseki and others, is a hero.
I just took a look at the latest TIME (100 Most Influential People in the World) and of course W was there because he IS influential. Unfortunately they needed to go to Italy for a rationale. P M Berlusconi wrote the piece and what I got out out of it was that he meant well once upon a time, loves his family and "understands the meaning of friendship." Terrific! Now more than ever I want to have a beer with W. (I like beer) And just like the Prime Minister, if your feeling any pain, please know that W understands that we need security.
Also, surprise, Joe Leiberman writes that McSame (as Bush) "puts the public interest first."
I live here!
Let me tell you that it has been an interesting lesson in how back room dirty politics are played.
Check out trwnews.net and dredgeitright.org for some idea on what's been going on.
And, it's not just the republicans that are trashing the environment for Dow. Our fucking moderate democrat governor just gave the green light to a ditch to dump all of Dow's dioxin into and there aren't any permits or laws required, thanks to her fat worthless fuck of a moderate democrat Lt. governor.
THAT is why I WILL NOT VOTE FOR HILLARY! No more voting and holding my nose and hoping for the best. I'd rather have a fucking republican than a god damned twit freaking democrat!
Read those 2 websites and search for tittabawassee river and get a whole bunch of Dow and Mi RNC astroturf groups that are just fine having the highest concentration of dioxin in our river that has ever been recorded in the United States.
We can't eat the fish, we can't eat the animals, we can't eat certain vegetables and we can't move dirt or enjoy our backyards!
And that's fine for the Dow supporters...
My blog is at theriverspeaks.blogspot.com
I've been in meetings in Midland where mothers that have been told that their breast milk removes a whole lot of their body burden of dioxin and they say. with glassy eyes, that it's ok with them...
We've had 'junk science' pushed on us from just about every angle...
Check out the 2 websites that I mentioned above. It's a HUGE issue! It's going to spread if they are successful in my backyard... You have been warned.
Hell, check out Dow too. Everywhere they have a plant there is some kind of contamination and some kind of major cover up going on...
PinkyLeftBrain @ 28:
What I meant to say was 'a god damned twit freaking MODERATE democrat.'
Sorry for the premature posting... This issue makes me FURIOUS!!!
The Chamber of Commerce: Best whores you can buy...
Thus continuing the wars on science, on the environment, and on public health
Has Nancy Pelosi said recently if Impeachment is still off the table?
How did they force her to quit? Just curious.
TimeForNewLeadership @ 32:
showed her a clipping of the DC Madam suicide.
TimeForNewLeadership @ 32:
She was put on 'administrative leave' and told tat she had to either quit or she was being fired.
She actually WAS a loyal Bushie at one point, ironically enough. Not loyal enough apparently...
The rot in the Republican Party starts from the top down, just as the rot in Republican-controlled companies start from the top down.
Reportedly, some KBR electrician over in Iraq several years ago reported electrical wiring problems. He was fired. Later, some U.S. soldiers were electrocuted while showering...due to faulty KBR wiring.
I don't know about you, but the CEO(s) at KBR should be brought up on criminal charges, or at least be drug before a congressional committee and harshly grilled.
29 PinkyLeftBrain
I'm surprised you're not already a republican trying to claim otherwise.
Remember that whoever the next president is they'll probably select the successors to both John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and what will happen to environmental and consumer protection laws then?
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